Thursday, June 25, 2009

Day Seven-Santorini

Andy and me with the village of Oia and the Mediterranean behind us.
This will go down in history as one of the funniest things I ever saw...my husband shoving Jackie up onto a donkey!

Another beautiful view...


And another...


And another...I really mean that photos and words cannot give you a true image of the beauty of Santorini!


I know most of you have heard of Santorini, and some of you may have visited this place. If you are among the group who has been to Santorini, you are truly blessed! I have to say I never in my wildest dreams ever believed this kind of place existed on earth! Santorini is harsh, yet gentle. It is stark, yet subtle. It is quiet, yet alive. Santorini is a place I cannot describe to you in words to do it justice. It is a volcanic island. The last eruption took place in the 1600’s which created an enormous cauldron with what is now considered Santorini becoming the outer rim of the volcano. The Mediterranean lies thousands of feet below the towns and inhabited areas. On top of the cliffs you can easily see the circular shape of the 5 islands, outlining the cauldron, that make up Santorini. Archaeological finds give reason to believe people inhabited this island as far back as 700 BC. The main religion is Greek Orthodox and there are hundreds of churches in this small place, most with a dome painted brilliant blue.

Our day in Santorini began with our tour. The ship was tendered, so we took a small boat to the island where our tour bus was waiting to take us up, up, up the side of a cliff to begin the tour. Maria was our tour guide and she gave us tons of information about the volcanic actions and how the volcano drives the lifestyle of the Greeks who live here. Volcanic ash makes extremely fertile soil and growing grapes is the main agricultural crop. The grapes are not grown up off the ground as they are in most traditional vineyards, rather they grow low on the ground. Pumice is also a by-product of volcanoes, so the pumice industry was once huge. Eventually, pumice mining stopped because it was ruining the island’s beauty and livelihood. Even the fact that the cliffs are made of lava is important to the building of homes here. Lava is so hard and trustworthy, many homes are built into the side of the cliffs. They are very small-only 3 rooms and Phillip and Renee were talking to a waiter in a restaurant who said his family is trying to sell one right now with a price tag of 700,000 euros (about 1.1 million US Dollars)!!

Our first stop was the village of Oia (pronounced ‘eeeah’). This is the place you see photographs of in all the travel brochures and travel documentaries. We were lucky to be one of the first tour buses there, so it was very quiet and quaint. We had about 40 minutes to roam the village and the shops. I didn’t think that was nearly enough time, and I have only one regret, which is not to have taken a taxi to go back there later in the day before we left. Next we drove through the wine country and low lying side of the island. It was interesting because looking at this area from up top, it seemed like flat farm land, but once we were down there, it was not flat at all! Then Maria took us to a winery where we tasted 3 types of Greek wine produced on the island. The white wine was very good, so I bought a bottle to take home. They had some delicious olives for us to try and of course, the view on the veranda of this winery was spectacular! Our next stop was in the main town of Santorini where our tour ended, giving us time to have lunch and browse the shops. Our lunch of gyros and greek salads was in a cafĂ© overlooking the Mediterranean. Then we browsed the shops, and I have decided the touristy shops all look the same and sell the same stuff throughout the entire Mediterranean.

Jackie was determined to ride the donkeys back down to the pier, despite the warning from the ship saying they did not recommend riding the donkeys. So, I figured if my 50-something year old friend could do this, so could I! And Andy, of course, could not let me do this without doing it himself. Charles, however, was having no part of the donkeys! Thus begins an adventure I will never forget! Jackie was the first to get on her donkey, which was not easy! Finally, Andy and the “donkey dude” shoved her by the rear end up onto the beast. I was laughing so hard, I thought I just might pee myself right there amidst the donkeys! I do have good pictures of this woman/animal interaction…I hope you enjoy the photo as much as I enjoyed watching this take place! Then “donkey dude” (who was NOT a nice man at all) searched to find a somewhat large donkey…possibly a mule…to take Andy down. So then we were all on our donkeys, hooked together with ropes in a group of about 7-8. Donkey Dude walked us down the path, which was about 2 miles zigzagging down the side of a cliff. I was thankful this man had some heart in him somewhere and did not just send the donkeys down on their own, which many donkey dudes do. Andy was on the lead donkey and my donkey kept trying to get up beside Andy’s donkey. The only problem with this is it resulted in my knees being shoved into the anus of Andy’s donkey. I was sure there would be donkey poop on my knees when I got off that thing! LOL!! As for the ride…it was very nerve-wracking! If the donkey got too close to the inside wall, your legs were scraped or you had to dodge the briar bushes hanging over the wall. All the while I was concentrating on holding myself back so as not to roll right off the front of the donkey what with the steep trajectory of our stance! I just kept thinking of how funny this would look if I was watching it all and I couldn’t help but laugh in spite of how it was not funny at all while it was taking place! And another very important part of the experience that I cannot leave out…the smell!!! You can only imagine what 100 plus donkeys, plus their poop and pee smells like! Need I say I was never so happy to be at the bottom of that cliff? We decided if it was 2 regular miles, that must equate to about 10 “jackass miles” because it sure felt like we would never make it to the bottom! I have no regrets…it was an experience I will never have again, and it made for some great laughs and good conversation!

Once we were back on the ship, we headed to the pool and hot tub to wash away the donkey stinch and calm down from our experience. After that, a much needed nap, then the captain’s cocktail party for returning Royal Caribbean cruisers with Renee and Phillip. After dinner, we went to the show, which was a guy who impersonates Elton John. He was fabulous and really did look and sound just like Elton John. He is the only Elton John impersonator to be authorized by Sir Elton John himself.

Tomorrow is Corfu, another Greek island. Can’t wait to see another of the small morsels that make up the 6000 Greek Isles. So, goodnight and love to you all! Cindy :o)

1 comment:

  1. Love the donkey story, I soooo would have done the same!

    ReplyDelete

Andy and Cindy are "Crewsin'"!

Welcome to our blog! We will try to add daily updates about our trip of a lifetime. Check back here to read highlights from our travels.

Rome, Italy

Rome, Italy

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Ephesus, Turkey

Ephesus, Turkey

Santorini, Greece

Santorini, Greece

Corfu, Greece

Corfu, Greece

Venice, Italy

Venice, Italy

Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy

Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy

Followers